RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Short Interest Down 18.2% in December

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,510,000 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the December 15th total of 12,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.92.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:RLJ opened at $10.00 on Friday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $8.74 and a 12 month high of $12.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49 and a beta of 1.70.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $345.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 206.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLJ. Quarry LP increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at $93,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at $107,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 31.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company's portfolio currently consists of 96 hotels with approximately 21,200 rooms, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia and an ownership interest in one unconsolidated hotel with 171 rooms.